So How Do I Get a Job Writing in the Videogame Industry?

In an earlier post I suggested I would eventually explain how an aspiring video game writer might actually go about getting a job in the industry.

And then I forgot about it. But I was kindly reminded today about that post and so here goes.

Sadly I don’t have too many tips. This is because there are not that many video game companies that actually hire writers on staff. Most use freelance writers, under contract. The stable game writing career with benefits, free breakfasts, and sports cars is a rare beast.

I don’t know much about freelance game writing, as I have never done that nor have I worked with a freelance writer so I’ll just discuss what I do know.

The On-The-Staff Writer

This is the position I discussed in my other post… a writer who is a standard employee of a videogame company with all the perks (and disadvantages) that entails. As I mentioned above there are few companies that offer this sort of position… most writing in most companies is done by the system/level designers, or freelance writers.

BioWare is an exception.

I don’t know exactly how many writers BioWare employs but between its various studios I’d guess about thirty full-time writers. I’m biased but I still think this is the best studio for a video game writer to try and write for. Haunting their job openings page is your best bet.

I know of no central location to find a directory of writers in the game industry or any organization of them… in most companies writers are designers who happen to write in addition to other responsibilities. And I should mention that the writers at BioWare, while considered full-time writers, also perform other design tasks but I think most of them, now, primarily write.

Here’s some tips to hunt for other opportunities.

Scan the Credits

One non-optimal way is to go through the credits of games that have story of some kind or another and see who is credited as writer. If there’s more than one writer it is a good bet the company has at least some writers on staff. After getting a couple names google them and see if you can find out more about them! Yes that’s stalking, but its all in a good cause — getting you a job. If the writer appears to be actually working at a particular company (instead of freelancing) learn more about the company, the games they make, and whether they are hiring or not.

Keep in mind that a first-person shooter studio probably has little need for writers compared to an ambitious 200 hour role-playing game with eight hundred thousand words of dialog.

Caveat. The reason that credit surfing is not an overly productive method of determining writers in a company is because many companies don’t seem to label writers as such. I assumed Bethesda (Fallout 3, Oblivion) and Obsidian had on-staff writers but I didn’t see any mentioned in the credits! That might just be because they are called something else. So your mileage with this approach will vary.

Research Conventions

There are several video game conventions. Don’t bother going to them unless you can afford to but do scan their events. Look for panels concerning Storytelling or Writing and find out the names of the presenters. Figure out the games they worked on and check their websites. Maybe even toss an e-mail or two their way and ask about their careers; you’ll probably find a willing correspondent. I officially give you permission to contact any writer in the industry.

This is the link to the schedule for the Game Developer’s Conference. Also look for comic or role-playing game conventions, they will occasionally bring in guest speakers from the video game industry. Follow one around and pester them with questions.

Forums — Become Part of the Community

Visit video game forums and start interacting with the developers there. Learn to differentiate the various design positions and build relationships. It can help you down the road and following the discussions will give you a better idea of who does what.

Also consider building mods and add-ons for existing games. Learn basic scripting and build an adventure that gets some attention. At the very least you might create something for your portfolio to help if a job opening presents itself.

As well I think anybody considering writing dialog for video games needs to play around with the Neverwinter/Dragon Age dialog editors and examine how dialog is actually constructed. Its not as much fun as you might be thinking.

Got Something Else To Offer?

If you would like to write, or be involved in the story craft on a video game consider getting your foot in the door in another position. For a developer like BioWare I think a reasonable foot-in-the-door might be as a technical designer… which is basically a programmer who populates environments and sets up the logic flags for the dialog (and loads of other important stuff). Take on additional writing tasks when they present themselves and you’ll probably find yourself doing some writing down the road. If not just sneak text into the game… the leads love that.

Of course you need to be a strong programmer to land the scripting job, which is why I still recommend getting a computing science degree to anybody trying to get into the video game industry (whether artist, writer, or quality assurance). Be aware that if you enter design you’ll probably make less money than you would in a programming position. Just saying.